In conventional solid polymer electrolyte fuel cells, a single cell module is used which is constituted by sandwiching a MEA-frame assembly in which a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) is supported by a frame provided with a gasket arranged around its periphery for sealing gas between an anode side electroconductive separator plate and a cathode side electroconductive separator plate. The MEA is constituted of a polymer electrolyte membrane, and an anode bound to one side of this polymer electrolyte membrane and a cathode bound to other side of the polymer electrolyte membrane. Gas supply sections are furthermore formed on the periphery of each separator plate to supply fuel gas to the anode and oxidizer gas to the cathode of the MEA respectively.
The structure of such a conventional solid polymer electrolyte fuel cell is disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 1. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 15, a structure in which an electrode-membrane-frame assembly 303 where the periphery of an electrode (MEA) 302 corresponding to the polymer electrolyte membrane is supported in the inside of a frame 300 is sandwiched between each of separators 301.
Further, such an electrode 302, namely, the polymer electrolyte membrane is incorporated into almost the center of the thickness of the frame 300 and as a binding method thereof, a thermal pressure bonding method, and a method using an adhesive, a mechanical cramp or the like are adopted.
Further, besides the above methods, a method in which a MEA body is arranged in a mold to form a frame bound to the MEA body by injection molding (see Patent Document 2) and a method in which a separator is arranged in a mold to form a frame bound to the separator by injection molding (see Patent Document 3) are disclosed.
Patent Document 1: JP-A No. 2005-100970
Patent Document 2: JP-A No. 2006-310288
Patent Document 3: JP-A No. 2005-268077